By Will Hobson, Times Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
CLEARWATER — Sheriff's deputies have decided to end a standoff Wednesday morning that involved an armed man who was inside a house in the High Point area, officials said. Deputies say they've determined that the man is not a threat to the public.
The house at 15597 Avalon Ave. near Roosevelt Boulevard was surrounded by Pinellas deputies after the Sheriff's Office got a call around 9:30 a.m. from a woman in the house. She said her boyfriend was armed and had been in poor health, and that she was concerned for their safety and the safety of their child.
Around 11 a.m., the man's girlfriend, who appeared to be in her 20s or 30s left the house, along with the child. The woman yelled, "He's got a gun, he's got a gun!"
Hostage negotiators and some of the man's relatives, including an aunt and a grandmother, were trying to convince him to come outside.
About 1 p.m., deputies started packing up and leaving. Sheriff's spokeswoman Cecilia Barreda said deputies had determined that the man wasn't a threat.
The standoff occurred at Avalon Avenue and Crestmont Street, just south of Roosevelt and east of 58th Street.